Although seemingly an informal picture depicting, maybe, two young lovers enjoying a picnic on a sunny day in the country, the painting exudes an air of menace. The whole canvas is filled by the circular composition that should in theory bring the couple together, but the contrapposto of the young woman's body separates her from her companion. Tim Wilcox, in his catalogue, A Day in the Sun, describes the relationship between the sitters, "The image of the happy courting couple receives an unexpected twist in this painting, as the girl, provocatively toying with a daisy, seems to make herself available to anyone but the boy she is with". Despite the title of the painting, 'Amity', meaning friendship or harmony, according to Peggy, the artist's second wife, the two models, Jeffrey and Nella, were in fact barely on speaking terms! (http://www.fleetwood-walker.co.uk/public-collections/index.php#amity.jpg)